Auckland's Mayor was on a hiding to nothing with Friday's freak weather event.
He's copped criticism from a lot of quarters over the timing of the emergency declaration, but Wayne Brown insists it wouldn't have been appropriate for him to do anything sooner than he did.
“This is a formal process," he said. "It's not to be taken lightly, I've listened to the professionals in the field."
And then he went on to say that as soon as he was given the go-ahead, he did so.
That was never going to be good enough for the pack of growling hounds at the media conference on Saturday.
They were feral, baying for blood, shouting over each other to get the same dig in... There was a whiff of pack mentality to it all.
Brown looked like a possum in the headlights and the reporters mowed him down with a truck and trailer unit.
No sign of his media team. He could perhaps have helped himself if he'd learned the names of the FENZ commander and the Civil Defence controller.
The rushing out with buckets comment was a bit off, and the Wellington earthquake remark? Dumb.
Thing is: Mister Brown might not have been able to foresee Auckland's worst weather on record, but his BS, sorry PR experts could have foreseen the ugliness of a hungry team of reporters, grumpy at having to work on a holiday weekend.
He hasn't endeared himself to the media by turning down so many interview requests.
And he comes across a little taciturn in front of a camera. Even a touch grumpy.
But the way I see it, he's been made a scapegoat. And if other departments and organisations dropped the ball? Have a crack at them.
Disclaimer: I've never met the Mayor. I have no skin in this game, and I'm definitely not looking for a job at the Council.
But were the emergency responders hampered in any way? No.
And would the rain have stopped, just because the Mayor signed a bit of paper? Of course not.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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